To Storm or Fire: Blood of Olympus Fanfiction
by Whatismywritingomg
Summary: The seven demigods are racing against the clock to find a way to defeat Gaea. After they get blown off course, they discover a demigod sent by Hera with a mysterious task crucial to the quest. As the deadline grows ever closer, the demigods must figure out what Hera's words mean as they are lead into the battle of their lives.
1. Chapter 1: Annabeth

_ BOOM._

Annabeth was thrown violently out of her seat as the dining hall lurched dangerously.

"What the hell was that?!" Frank yelled, standing up.

_BOOM._

A second collision pushed the Argo II in the other direction. A couple chairs slid across the room. Annabeth got up unsteadily and charged out the door.

_BOOM._

The third collision slammed her against the corridor. She hit her head hard against the wall. Annabeth blinked away the red spots dancing on the edge of her vision and kept running.

_BOOM._

The fourth collision swung open the door to the deck, revealing the chaos. Wind spirits, millions and millions of them, circled the Argo II. They flew around, pushing and pulling the ship every which way, lifting up anything that wasn't bolted down. Everyone was fighting desperately, but it seemed like every time they killed a spirit, two came to take its place.

_ "The sails" _Annabeth thought in horror. The sails were going to flip the ship over. She tucked her head down and fought her way to the control panel. The wind screamed in her ears and tried to pull the skin off her face. She gritted her teeth and went down on all fours, digging her fingernails into the wood floor as she clawed her way to the control panel.

She ducked her head and shut her eyes tight as one of the spirits dived for her. Annabeth made a set of deep scratch marks in the wood as the spirit dragged her backwards. She turned and placed a well-aimed kick at the things featureless face, and it lost its grip and tumbled backwards. Annabeth shut her eyes tight as she fought blindly forward.

All her senses seemed to become sharper as she closed her eyes. The high pitched shriek of the wind drowned out all other noises. She could smell the crisp scent of cold air as it blasted her in the face, numbing her skin. Annabeth fought on. Just… a little… closer…

Her hand hit the bottom of the control panel and her eyes shot open. Hauling herself up, she stared at the rows and rows of buttons. She looked around desperately for Leo, and spotted him lying unconscious near a masthead. Someone needed to get him away from danger. She gestured desperately to Jason, and he nodded and started fighting his way to Leo's body.

Annabeth turned her attentions back to the control panel. She had no idea which one controlled the sails. In desperation, she started pressing them randomly. One wind spirit seemed to know what she was trying to do, and sent a gust of wind right at her chest. She fell backwards and flew up into the air before falling hard on her back. Pain shot through her entire body, but she got up quickly.

"IT'S USELESS! GO INSIDE!" She screamed at the others, but the wind drowned out her voice. Thankfully everyone understood her gestures and started heading for shelter. Annabeth started walking over, but she could feel the energy draining out of her. She stumbled and started getting dragged back by the wind, but a strong hand grabbed her wrist.

Annabeth looked up to see Percy, and expression of urgency on his handsome face. He helped her up, and they clung to each other tightly as they struggled to the door. Percy pushed her inside before slamming and bolting the entrance, locking out the wind.

One inside, all of Annabeth's adrenalin dissipated. She sank to the ground exhausted, and looked around at her friends. Piper and Jason had collapsed together in a pile, sandwiching an unconscious Leo between them. Hazel was huddled in a corner with her face buried in a German Shepard that Annabeth guessed was Frank. Beside her, Percy put a protective arm around her and pulled her close.

The ship rocked dangerously from side to side. Outside, the wind spirits shrieked in delight, like they were a cat playing with its prey. Collisions shook the entire ship as everyone inside huddled together. When Annabeth thought that the Argo II couldn't take any more damage, the onslaught suddenly stopped.

Everyone looked up, puzzled. The German Shepard suddenly changed back into Frank, his almond eyes blinking in confusion.

"I… I think it's over" Hazel said with uncertainty. Annabeth didn't share her optimism. The peace seemed tense, like the calm before a storm. She couldn't help but feel like something worse was going to happen. A minute passed… two... five…

A gust of wind flipped the ship violently into the air. Everyone was flung across the room like rag dolls. Time seemed to freeze for a split second as everyone was suspended into the air. Annabeth could see the looks of shock and terror on everyone's faces and she realized that this could be the last time she will ever see them. She turned to look at her boyfriend. She wanted him to be the last thing she ever saw.

Then time returned to normal speed and they were all flung at the ground. Annabeth hit her head hard against the wall and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2: Annabeth

Annabeth groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Pain pounded her skull like waves crashing against rocky cliffs. Her vision was foggy, the shapes around her indistinguishable blobs of colour. She blinked hard, and her steely grey eyes came into focus, making the chaos around her crystal-clear.

Everything and everyone had been flung about the room. Tables were flipped over, chairs lying on their sides with legs broken clean off. Fortunately, nothing large had landed on her friends, some of whom were waking up. Hazel sat up, nursing a large purple bruise blossoming on her leg. Jason rubbed his head and looked around, dazed. Beside her, Percy shifted to a sitting position, his scruffy black hair covering his sea green eyes. His face broke out into a huge grin.

"We're alive." His laugh was almost hysterical. "We survived!"

Annabeth smiled, despite the circumstances. "Yes we did, Seaweed Brain." She reached up and brushed the bangs out of his face, gazing into his eyes. She remembered when they were clinging to the edge of Tartarus, how she had looked straight into those same bright eyes right before they fell.

"So." Piper's voice brought her back to reality. "We should probably check out the damage that's been done."

The seven of them walked up to the deck solemnly. Annabeth hesitated as she rested her hand on the huge bolt that kept the door shut during the attack. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was outside. Her mind conjured up horrible images of the possible destruction behind the metal door, snapped mastheads, a broken Festus, a damaged control panel. Annabeth took a deep breath, unlocked the door and swung it open.

The destruction was pretty bad, but it wasn't as bad as she imagined it. Anything that hadn't been bolted down was scattered on the floor. A deck chair had been flung overboard, taking a huge length of railing down with it. The sails had been reduced to tattered ribbons fluttering in the breeze, and ropes had been snapped or ripped off altogether. The foremast had buckled under the stress of the wind, and lay toppled on the deck, extending out over the front of the ship. Splintered floorboards jutted out on either side of the mast. They had been lucky, the large structure missed the control panel by mere centimetres.

Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. "It's not too bad."

"Not too bad?! My baby has been destroyed!" Leo cried out from beside her. He wore an expression of horror and despair, like he just saw his best friend die.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Calm down Leo. It could have been worse. At least the control panel is fine, and Festus isn't hurt."

"Festus!" Leo gasped "I almost forgot!" He ran over to the masthead, and Annabeth could hear them communicating in the clicks and creaks of automaton language.

She turned her attentions to the surroundings around her. They had landed in what looked like desert. There was no sign of water anywhere. Wherever they were, it was far, far away from the Mediterranean.

She called to Leo "Hey! Does Festus know where we are?"

"No. The GPS got damaged in the attack."

Annabeth swore under her breath. "Will you be able to fix it?"

"No." Leo sighed. "We don't have the supplies to."

Oh god, this was bad. Annabeth rubbed her temples and calmed herself down. She couldn't lose her head right now.

"Okay, I guess we'll be finding where we are the old fashioned way." Annabeth muttered. She picked out the people with the least amount of bruising on their body. "Jason, Percy, and Piper can go scout the area."

"Can I come?" Leo piped up.

"No, you should rest up. You took a pretty bad blow to the head during that attack." Annabeth kissed Percy quickly on the cheek and shooed the three of them along. "Hurry. We can't waste any time."


	3. Chapter 3: Leo

Leo sighed as he watched Piper, Jason and Percy walk away from the ship to scout around the area. He wished that he was going with them. Why couldn't he go on adventures too? All he had done this entire quest was stay on the ship while everyone else had fun slaying monsters.

"Leo, stay on the ship while we battle giants. Leo, do some repairs while we talk to gods. Leo, tinker with the engine while we do cool demigod stuff." Ugh.

A little annoying voice in his head reminded him of what Nemesis had said.

"You will always be the seventh wheel."

"Aw, shut up" he muttered. He didn't get why that still bothered him. She had said that a month ago. Things had changed. Leo knew that he fit in the group. Or did he?

"Leo, who are you talking to?" Annabeth, dressed in her usual orange camp t shirt walked on deck

"Oh, nobody" Leo said, fully aware of how insane he sounded. She shot him a concerned look but said nothing.

Leo went back to looking at the desert landscape. The Argo II was hovering over a barren, flat plain. A hot breeze skimmed the top of the rolling sand dunes. Cacti and pathetic little dried out shrubs dotted the land and an occasional small tree offered shade from the scorching sun.

Leo looked at the stubby trees and wondered what miracle allowed those things to exist. There seemed to be no water in sight, but the little things stubbornly clung on to existence, creating little oasis's. Was that what they were called? Oasis's? Oasi? Leo reminded himself to ask Annabeth later. His gaze was attracted to a thing lying under one of those trees. It looked kind of like a rock. Or maybe a dead animal. He shaded his eyes with his hands and squinted.

_It was a person._

Leo ran across the deck "Annabeth! There's a person down there!"

"What?" Annabeth looked confused.

"Go get the ambrosia and water. I think they're dying"

"Leo, this could be a trap you know"

"Or it could just be a person dying from dehydration and heat stroke! Go get some wet towels too. Make sure the water's cold."

Leo ran as fast as he could towards the figure. Growing up in Texas, he had seen what heat stroke could do to a person. He literally had the first aid treatment memorized.

Leo crouched beside the body and rolled her onto her back. The girl looked about 15 or 16, with choppy black hair and almond eyes. A dark stain blossomed on her forest green tank top and something was sticking out of her chest, making the fabric peak upwards. Leo didn't want to know what it was. A scaly grey cloak was wrapped around her thin, emaciated shoulders. A sword hung from her belt and a knife was strapped to her thigh. Both were made of celestial bronze. A brown leather bag lay a few feet away from her. She was extremely pretty despite the fact that cuts and bruises littered her body. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, and though her skin was blazing hot, she wasn't sweating. It was definitely heat stroke.

"She's a demigod" Annabeth approached them with the first aid kit. In the distance, Leo saw Hazel and Frank running towards them with buckets of cold water.

Annabeth lifted up the girl's shirt and Leo tried not to throw up. Her rib had been fractured in half, and the broken end stuck out of a gash in her chest. Beside Leo, Frank gasped and turned bright green. He stumbled a few feet away and curled up in fetal position, eyes shut tight.

Annabeth quickly put on some medical gloves and got to work, putting the rib back in place and cleaning all the blood. She closed the wound with a couple strips of medical tape and tugged her shirt back in place. Leo looked at her incredulously. She was just calmly putting a rib back inside someone like she was nursing a cat scratch. How does she even…?

"That'll do the job until we can get her some ambrosia" she said. "Leo? You okay? You look a bit nauseous."

"What? Yea, I'm okay. We need to cool her down." Leo said, tearing his gaze away from the girl's rib. "Quick, give me those cloths."

Leo dipped the cloths in the cool water and wrung them out. He wrapped them around her neck, armpits and torso, areas with the most blood vessels. He wiped down the rest of her exposed skin and dripped some of the water into her mouth. He gently tilted her head back to let the water trickle down her throat.

"We need to get her someplace cold" He said, picking her up. "Frank, do you think you can manage turning into a bird to shield us from the sun?"

"Yea. I can manage that… maybe" Frank looked a little better now that the wound wasn't in sight. He walked over unsteadily, his skin tinged green.

"You don't have to if you don't want to" Hazel said.

"No. its fine. I can do it." Frank studied the girl intently. "She seems familiar. I know I've seen her somewhere."

"Well, you can think about where you've seen her later. First, we have to make sure she doesn't die." Annabeth said. "Frank, are you sure you can do it? Don't push yourself too hard."

"I can do it." Frank said with determination. He scrunched up his face and concentrated. Moments later, he was replaced by a huge condor with a 10 foot wingspan.

The three of them carried the girl gingerly to the ship. Frank soared over their heads, shielding them from the blazing sun. The walk was only five minutes long, but it seemed like years to Leo. Every second drew the girl closer to death.

When they finally reached the ship, Leo ran down to sick bay and turned all the air conditioners to full blast. He sat by her bed, dripping nectar in her mouth and trying to cool her down. Hours later, he finally let out a breath he had been holding in as her body temperature became normal once more, and relaxed a bit in his chair.

He couldn't help but agree with Frank. She did look extremely familiar. He just couldn't remember where he'd seen her before. It was very unlike Leo. Usually he would remember a face this pretty. Leo wiped down her overhead. Her breathing was getting steadier and her wounds were fading thanks to the nectar.

"Who are you?" he asked her. Her only reply was a small moan as she started to regain consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4: Cass

Gods, Cass hated having repetitive dreams. It was like being forced to watch a movie over and over and over. You get so sick of it after a while. All the surprises aren't surprises anymore. You know exactly what happens next, and the movie gets boring, even if it's packed full of action.

In her dream, she was standing on a hill. Her surroundings were shrouded in mist and the grass was wet with dew. The first time she saw this, it looked beautiful and mysterious. Now it just looked like a damn hill. She turned around to see Hera, yet again. Wow. How exciting. Not expected at all.

Hera opened her mouth "Seek out-"

"The Argo II. Find the lion, help it with something. Yes, yes, I know. I've got it memorized" She interrupted. "Why do you keep sending this dream?"

Hera's eyes flashed with annoyance. "Because it's important. So you won't forget, impudent child"

"Your message is drilled into my brain. I don't think I could forget if I wanted to." She paced around impatiently "Why don't you tell me something useful for once? Who is this lion and what is it doing on a ship?"

Hera's form was fading. "You will see" she said, the words echoing as the scene started changing.

_Finally_. Cass thought. _Something new._

She saw herself at Camp Half – Blood, at the edge of Canoe Lake. She was struggling to pull a canoe out of the water.

_This isn't a dream,_ she realized. _It's a memory._

A lanky boy approached her. He was of medium height with curly hair and tanned skin.

"Need any help?"

"No, I'm good, thanks" She pushed the hair out of her face. "I've never seen you before. Are you new?"

"Yup" he grinned. His eyes twinkled, and she was instantly reminded of the Stoll brothers. He had the same look in his eyes, like he was up to no good.

"Oh cool. Where are you from?"

"Houston, Texas. You?"

"Montreal, Canada"

"Ah. I've never been to Canada, but I heard the girls are pretty." He stepped closer. "I never thought they would be _this_ pretty"

Cass rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling at the corny line. He walked over and helped her pull the red canoe out of the water. "Thanks"

He shrugged. "No problem"

"Well, I'll see you around, Houston"

"See you." he winked, and the dream faded.

Cass blinked her eyes as she woke up. Where was she? All she could remember was wandering through the desert, and she passed out under a tree. Now, she was in a room, in a bed. First aid equipment lined one shelf, and a small table lamp cast a warm light across everything. She realized that there was someone sitting beside her. She recognized his grin, his twinkling eyes…

"Houston?"


	5. Chapter 5: Leo

Leo knew that he knew her from somewhere. Now he remembered.

He remembered that day by the lake when he first met her. He remembered her laughing as she tucked her soft black hair over one ear.

_I'll see you around, Houston _

How the hell did he forget a girl like that?

"Hey" he said softly. "How are you feeling?"

She shifted her body and winced "How many ribs did I break?" she asked "Because right now it feels like I broke them all"

"Four" Leo offered her a plate of ambrosia. "This'll help."

"Thanks" she mumbled. "What happened to me? Where am I?"

"This, my friend, is the sick bay of the amazingly beautiful Argo II, the first ever flying ship in the world" he spread him arms out proudly "I built it myself."

Leo saw the girl's eyes light up when he mentioned the name.

"I found you."

"You were looking for us?" Leo shook his head, bewildered

"Yea. Hera told me to find a lion on the Argo II…"

"Sorry. We don't have any lions. We do, however have a mechanical dragon, a flying end table, and magical all-you-can-eat dinner plates."

"Flying end table..?"

"His name is Buford II. He does the laundry. Also he is programmed to avenge the death of Buford the original when needed."

The girl shook her head. "I'm so confused right now."

"It's a long story. Buford the original was a flying robot table. He was blown up by romans. I had to replace him, so I made Buford II, with some special features." He grinned. "Including a big red 'Vengeance' button"

The girl was staring at him. Leo knew he should probably stop talking. He always talked too much when he got nervous, and this girl made him nervous as heck.

"Well, uh…" He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yea... So, no lions,"

She looked at him, still dazed. "You're a son of Hephaestus." She looked around the room. "This ship… you built all of this?"

"Yup." Leo couldn't keep the pride out of his voice. "Remote controlled sails, state-of-the-art GPS system, and a combination electric and gas engine for backup in case the first one, which is powered mostly by nuclear energy and magic, breaks. Everything is powered by solar energy and the plumbing system is _amazing._ I don't mean to brag, but the design is just-" He realized that he was blabbing on again and stopped himself. He looked up, embarrassed. "Sorry. I'm probably boring you…"

"No, no, you're not. It's quite interesting, really." Her eyes shone with fascination. "Did you say electric and gas engine? How did you get one powerful enough for a ship?"

"It's quite simple, really. It's not like a traditional hybrid motor, they are built to feed off of one another…" He explained the inner workings of the engine excitedly. To his surprise, the girl never lost interest and her eyes didn't glaze over once. That only happened when he talked to the children of Athena or Hephaestus. He hoped she wasn't a daughter of Hephaestus. He shouldn't feel this attracted to his sister.

"That is ingenious." She exclaimed. "Sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Cass, daughter of Athena." She smiled and offered her hand.

"I'm Leo." He shook her outstretched hand, hoping his palm wasn't too sticky.

"Well, you should get some rest. I'll see you later."

"See you Leo. It's been nice talking to you!"

Leo walked out of the room, unable to control the grin spreading across his face.


	6. Chapter 6: Cass

Cass hardly even got to sleep before she was woken up again, this time by a girl. She recognized her curly blonde hair and determined gray eyes.

"I know you. You're Annabeth. We were in the same cabin at Camp Half – Blood"

Annabeth seemed surprised. "You're a daughter of Athena?"

Cass understood her surprise. She looked nothing like a child of Athena. She remembered the first time she walked into the cabin. There was every hair colour and skin shade under the rainbow, but everyone had those piercing, stormy gray eyes. Everyone except Cass. Her eyes, on the other hand, were black. Boring, dull, bland solid black, with no flecks of colour or intricacies that made eyes so beautiful.

The only thing that really showed that she was a daughter of Athena was her cloak. Athena had given it to her as a gift when she ran away to find Camp Half-Blood. It was made from the skin of the titan Pallas, whom Athena had defeated long ago. They said that he was undefeatable because his skin was impenetrable, but Athena defeated him by ripping off his skin instead of trying to cut through it. She made herself a cloak, and made a matching one for Cass.

Annabeth's eyes lit up "Oh I remember you! You're Cassie right? Cathy? Cath?"

"It's Cassia. Cassia Chen."

"Doesn't that mean-"

"Yes" Cass winced. "It does mean cinnamon in Greek." She didn't like her name. Apparently her dad named her that because her mother smelled like cinnamon, but Cass always thought that it sounded a little stripper-esque. Thank gods nobody knew what her name meant at school, but when she got plopped in the middle of a camp full of Greek speaking demigods… oh boy. Eventually, she got tired of telling everyone what Athena smelled like, and just introduced herself as Cass. Everyone just assumed that it was short for Cassidy or something like that, and she was perfectly fine with that. It was only a matter of time before someone started calling her Cinnamon Buns or something equally horrific and embarrassing.

"That's an interesting name. Did your dad know what it meant?"

"Yup. He spoke fluent Greek. He was an exchange student in Athens. That's where he met my mom." _Our mom. _

There was an awkward pause. "He said that Athena smelled like cinnamon."

"Now that you mention it, she does a little."

"Call me Cass. Please."

Another awkward silence. Annabeth fidgeted nervously and cleared her throat. "Well, you broke a few ribs and your pelvis, sprained your ankle, and got a few really bad gashes and a concussion. You should be good to go tomorrow, but one of your ribs was severely fractured and will need rest, so don't go running off fighting monsters anytime soon."

She got up. "Try to eat if you can, you're really malnourished. Drink water. If you need anything, just ask" she nodded curtly and left.

After Annabeth left, Cass decided to see the extent of her injuries. She tested out each limb, one by one. She winced as she tried to rotate her left ankle, only to have a sharp pain shoot up her leg.

_Yup, definitely sprained_ she thought.

Besides that, she felt okay. There was a dull ache in her knee, probably from being overworked and her pelvis, though painful was healing up rather nicely. She decided to move her torso around a bit to check out the damage done to her ribs.

She hardly turned a few centimetres before a blinding pain set all her nerves on fire. She bit down hard on her duvet to stop herself from screaming from pure agony.

_Nonono that was a bad idea. That was a really bad idea. Don't do that. Don't ever do that. Oh gods…_

A broken rib should not be that painful. Something was wrong. She lifted up her shirt to investigate and saw a jagged scar curving up the right side of her chest, tracing the path of a rib. She realized in horror that that was probably where the broken rib jutted out of her skin. No wonder it hurt so much. It was snapped in half. An unwelcome image of smooth white bone sticking out of a bloody, gory mess popped in her mind and made her shudder inwardly. It was going to be a while before that rib healed, even with the help of ambrosia.

Cass sighed and took another bite of ambrosia. It tasted like rocky road brownies, her favourite kind. After finishing few pieces, she felt a lot better. Her rib didn't throb as much, and she was finally able to get into a comfortable position, where she dozed off.


	7. Chapter 7: Frank

Frank had had enough of this quest. First, they got attacked by wind spirits that blew them clear across the Mediterranean, then he had to watch in horror as Annabeth performed amateur surgery as she tried to get a girls horrifically mutilated rib back into her body, then, Percy, Jason and Piper came back with the marvelous news that they were in _Egypt,_ of all places. Now, Leo Valdez was walking towards him with an all too familiar expression on his face. Oh gods, he didn't have the time or patience for him in _that_ state right now.

"Hey" Leo sauntered over. "I just wanted to tell you that I think that I'm in love."

He raised his eyebrow. "Really? Again?"

"It's different this time. Its love, I can feel it." His eyes glazed over. "It's that new girl whose life I saved. By the way, I've got quite a big chance with her. You can't help but fall in love with a guy if he saves your life. It's a fact."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Sure. And where did you get that fact?"

"It's in the books, dude. No literally, it's in the books. In every single fairy tale ever, the prince saves the princess, and the princess falls in love with him after he saves her" Leo dramatically looked off into the distance. "I just saved my princess"

Frank shook his head. "You're ridiculous, Valdez."

"Not ridiculous Zhang, romantic!" Leo called after him as he walked away. "I'm romantic!"

Everyone was settled in for dinner when their mysterious newcomer appeared, looking considerably better than before. Most of the dirt and blood had been washed off her face, arms and legs, though some of it still remained. Her cuts and bruises had disappeared thanks to the ambrosia, but some deeper cuts left scars that didn't seem like they were going to go away anytime soon. She was still wearing the same clothes that they had found her in, tan shorts and a green tank top with a dark stain covering the entire right side. He shuddered as he remembered all the blood, and the shiny white bone sticking out at a 45 degree angle. He pushed that image out of his mind.

Leo caught the girl's gaze and smiled. He gestured for her to come sit beside him, and to Frank's surprise, she obliged. It was almost as if they knew each other.

Her gait was uneven as she made her way across the room. Frank remembered that Annabeth had mentioned a cracked pelvis and sprained ankle. It had to be excruciatingly agonizing to walk, but her face showed no pain as she walked towards the empty chair beside Leo.

_Ugh, that face…_

It was so familiar. Frank knew he'd seen her somewhere. It had been teasing him, the memories resting just at the edge of his consciousness, so they he could almost reach them, but not quite.

"Everyone, this is Cass, daughter of Athena." Annabeth announced. "Cass, this is Percy, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Jason, and Leo." Each person waved as she called their name. The introduction of her name pushed the memories ever closer to the edge, but Frank still couldn't recall where he'd seen her. Cass narrowed her eyes at Frank's name, like she recognized him but not quite, like she had the same problem he did.

"Cass will be staying with us for a while." Annabeth continued.

"Actually, I think I might be here for a little more than a while." Cass spoke. Her voice was soft but commanding and confident. Franks memories were nudged a little bit closer to the edge. She was definitely not from Camp Jupiter. She seemed like she was from farther in the past.

"I was sent by Hera to look for you" she explained. "She told me that I was needed here. She told me to seek a lion on the ship, she said that it was important."

"How did you find us?" Percy asked.

"Oh. You guys left quite a trail of destruction behind you" she laughed. "It was quite easy if you knew what to look for, but the trail went cold in Egypt. It only got really bad when the monsters caught up to me. They kept coming back after I killed them, and I was overwhelmed by them."

"What exactly was Hera talking about with the lion?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know. She was really vague about it, like she couldn't say a lot. All she told me was that it was crucial in the plan to stop Gaea, and I was to stand by it at all costs."

"Like protect it?"

"No… more like work with it, or fight beside it. Apparently it had crucial information that I needed to help with. Anyway, Hera told me that it was to be found on this ship."

"Well there aren't any lions here that we know of" Hazel said

"Maybe Hera didn't mean it literally." Annabeth mused

"So like a statue or painting?" Hazel asked

"But how exactly can a statue hold crucial information?" Jason argued

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it can come to life like Terminus."

"Hopefully it's not as uptight as Terminus" Leo joked

"Maybe the lion is someone brave or courageous." Piper suggested

"Well then it has to be one of you." Cass pointed out "and if any of you had any information, you probably won't withhold it."

"The information could just be a theory that someone has at the back of their mind" Percy offered. "Hera told you to work with them. Maybe you have to help them develop their theory."

"We will have to figure that out later." Annabeth said. "For now, we have other problems, for example, where will Cass sleep? She can't stay at the sick bay for the entire trip."

That was going to be a problem. There were eight cabins, but Coach Hedge's had been turned into a super-secret workshop for Leo. He had been building something there, and he wouldn't let anyone in. The other ones were roomy, but they were hardly big enough to accommodate two people. The girls started discussing among themselves to see who would volunteer to give up half their space. Finally, someone volunteered, but it wasn't one of them.

"I'll share" Leo said.

Everyone stared at him.

"Wait, what?" Piper said with disbelief

_"You're being a bit too forward there, buddy" _Frank thought

"When I built the ship, I might have made my room slightly bigger than the other ones. Its big enough to fit two beds easily with room to spare, and it will be much easier than trying to share in your rooms" Leo said. "Besides, I already have a spare bed there."

Annabeth shrugged. "Sure, if Cass is okay with it."

She smiled. "It's fine."

After that, the conversation moved on to the regular discussions about how to defeat Gaea. Soon, everyone's meals were finished and the crowd dissipated.


	8. Chapter 8: Leo

**Chapter 8: Leo**

"So..." Leo opened the door "This is going to be your room. Well, our room."

He couldn't help but swell up with pride as she gasped in amazement at the sight.

"You... You made all this? By yourself?"

"Yep."

Leo had to admit, it was an awesome room. It had been modelled after the captain's quarters of old 15th century ships, with ornate carvings and built in bookshelves that covered all the walls. It had been enchanted to be larger on the inside, and was bigger than the mess hall. The ceiling went up for miles, and curved upwards in a church like arch, covered with old renaissance inspired frescoes featuring scenes from Greek and Roman myths. A spiral staircase on wheels gave access to the built in bookshelves built a few feet up from the floor. In one section, the bookshelves went all the way down to the ground, filled with books on every subject imaginable. A small fountain trickled in the corner, built just for iris-messages.

Leo's bed was placed slightly off centre. It was a huge king size poster bed draped in embroidered silk blankets. The guest bed was less extravagant, but it was still quite fancy, with carved wood posts at each of the four corners and plush Pegasus-down duvets. On the other side of the room was Leo's workspace. A huge industrial metal desk and stool covered in blueprints contrasted starkly with the old fashioned décor. Tools and machinery were scattered everywhere.

_"Great"_ Leo thought. _"The first time I bring a girl here and it's a total mess"_

Cass didn't seem to care.

"It's amazing" She headed right for the bookshelves, running her fingers along the spines, blowing dust of the covers as she thumbed through them.

Leo watched her explore the room. She was so intrigued by everything, asking clever questions about the workmanship and engineering that Leo didn't expect her to know about.

"The architecture is flawless" she observed. "It's like I just walked onto a ship from the Renaissance"

"I kinda went overboard on this room, but hey, it's the captain's quarters so it's supposed to be fancy. Just don't go telling the others about all of this." Leo winked.

"Leo, this is amazing." Cass turned to look at him, eyes shining with excitement. "You're amazing. I've never seen anybody build something this amazing since Beckendorf."

She was so close. He could feel her soft breath on his face. Leo's brain seemed to stop working as he stared into her dark brown eyes. When he looked closely, he could see little flecks of honey gold and fiery orange in the sea of dark chocolate. He reached over and wiped off a bit of dirt on her cheek.

"You've got a little something…"

"Right. I should go get cleaned off." She looked down

"The ensuite bathroom is over there" Leo pointed at a fancy wooden door. "Don't go telling the others that we have an ensuite. They'll go nuts and demand their own. Also, there are plush embroidered towels." He grinned. "Never mention the plush embroidered towels. They will kill for those plush embroidered towels."

Cass smiled. "I'll guard the secret with my life." She picked up her bag and headed towards the bathroom.

"You better!" Leo called after her.

He was pretty glad when she closed the door behind her because by that point, Leo could hardly hide his nervous fidgeting and hyperventilation. "She called me amazing. Oh my gods, she called me amazing" he thought. He decided to go on a walk to calm his nerves.

When Leo returned an hour later, she was still in the shower. "Girls" he thought. He knocked on the door.

"You know other people need to use this bathroom right?" He called

A muffled "sorry" came from inside.

Leo waited for another ten minutes. Not a sound came from the bathroom.

He knocked again "you okay in there?"

Silence. Then, she replied.

"Um, sort of. I kinda don't have a shirt, since mine is covered in blood."

"Oh. You can borrow one of mine"

"I was thinking you could ask one of the girls, but that's fine too"

Of course that's what she was thinking. How could he have been so stupid? Now she'll think he was weird oh gods oh gods...

"Leo, dude, calm down" he muttered. He headed to his dresser and grabbed a clean white button down shirt. After doing a stain and smell check, he deemed it worthy to be given to her.

He went back to the bathroom door and knocked again.

"Hey, I've got something that might fit."

Cass opened the door a crack and peeked out through the sliver of space.

"Thanks" she smiled and took the shirt from him. Leo caught a glimpse of her wrapped up in a (plush and embroidered) towel before she closed the door on his face. Moments later she re-emerged in the shirt. Since Leo was pretty thin, the shirt wasn't too wide on her, but it was pretty long. The hem of it hovered just about mid-thigh, with a clean pair of gray cotton shorts peeking out from under it. The sleeves would have covered her hands completely had she not rolled them up. The collar was unbuttoned just enough to show her collarbones and barely a shadow of cleavage. Leo bit his lip and took his gaze off her chest.

She sat at the edge of her bed, picking up a book from the pile she had already selected from his collection. She reached in her bag and pulled out a pair of black rimmed reading glasses.

"You need glasses?"

"Only for reading."

"They suit you. A lot."

She smiled. "Thank you."

He didn't even know how long he sat there watching Cass reading in his shirt and those extremely attractive glasses and looking beautiful in general. After a while, she looked up at him.

"Don't you have a shower to take?"

"Oh yea. Right." Leo quickly gathered his stuff and hurried to the bathroom. He could hear her chuckling as he closed the door.


End file.
